


When?

by ButterflyCookies (Lightningpelt)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Artificial Intelligence, M/M, digital cuties, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 08:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4870876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightningpelt/pseuds/ButterflyCookies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The holographic help was suspiciously high-tech for such an old-time arcade, Kuroo thought... but that couldn't stop him from getting strangely attached to the A.I. helper program that introduced itself as Kenma. </p>
<p>(Oneshot for now; may be continued~)</p>
            </blockquote>





	When?

**Author's Note:**

> Posting some more of my work from the '15 Sports Anime Summer Olympics. For a complete list of my fills for the event, check ["My Masterlist on Dreamwidth"](http://niaocat.dreamwidth.org/404.html) (I'll only be posting my faves here on AO3).  
> Veiw the original prompt for this one ["here"](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/7182.html?thread=2647822#cmt2647822). 
> 
> Please do check the prompt above and listen to the provided playlist while you're reading! I think it makes things just slightly cuter. <3   
> I'm seriously considering continuing this one, especially with season two starting soon... the Muse might, just might decide to be nice to me where the fandom is concerned. So I figured I may as well post this here and see what you guys thought. ;P   
> Please do leave a comment if the fancy strikes, and thanks for taking the time to read!

Kuroo wasn't especially one for video games, but they had their merits as stress relievers. So when an olden-time arcade popped on the route he took to school everyday, it was only natural that he find the occasion to stop. 

"Greetings! My name's Hinata! What's yours?" 

Kuroo pulled up short, surprised by the cheerful face that greeted him. "H-Hello. It's... Kuroo." 

"Kuroo-san! Welcome! How many tokens can I get you today? Five? Ten? We've got a fantastic deal on one hundred!" 

"I-I... well, I'll take your pack of 25." 

"Perfect!" 

While the _holographic_ clerk exchanged his yen for tokens, Kuroo glanced anxiously around the establishment. He could see other customers, but there didn't seem to be any live employees. 

_Awfully high-tech for such an old-fashioned arcade..._

"There you go!" Hinata said cheerfully, as the tokens were dispensed. "Have fun!" 

Waving awkwardly to the hologram, Kuroo ventured deeper into the arcade, trying to shake off the feeling of being watched. But soon he had settled in at a gaming console, the strangeness of the setting forgotten in his frustration at a particularly difficult stage of an adventure game. 

"Shoot..." He had successfully died _again_. Sighing, he sat back for a moment and scratched his head. "Today just isn't my day..." 

"Do you want a hint?" 

The voice in his headphones startled him, and suddenly a shape fizzled to life on the screen. It was a boy— a boy with mostly blonde hair, dark roots just barely poking through at the crown of his head. He wore a largely disinterested expression, although his eyes sparked with curiosity. 

"Oh, uh..." There was a microphone on the headset, although Kuroo hadn't thought it had a purpose. He adjusted it self-consciously before replying. "Did I activate a tutorial of some sort...?" 

"I'm just here to help," the digital boy replied. "Call me a tutorial if that makes it easier to understand. Now do you want a hint or not?" 

Kuroo nodded, although he realized seconds later that a gaming console couldn't see. Before he could answer verbally, though, the program spoke again. 

"Check the bolder at the entrance of the cave. You'll find a useful item there." 

And then the boy had vanished with a brief nod, and Kuroo wondered why he felt slightly disappointed. 

He passed the stage without any further trouble.

... ... ... 

"Did you enjoy yourself?" the holographic clerk asked as Kuroo left. The dark-haired boy nodded.

"Yeah, a lot." He smiled. "Hey, tell that little digital friend of yours thanks for his tip." 

Hinata cocked his head, making his neck glitch slightly. "Kenma-san?" 

Kuroo had meant it to be a joke— he hadn't expected such a... _sentient_ reply. "His name's Kenma?" 

Hinata nodded. "Yeah! I'll tell him that for you— it'll make him smile! Well, he doesn't really smile, but he'll be be smiling on the inside, for sure!" 

And on that note, just slightly dumbfounded but somehow pleased, Kuroo bid the hologram farewell.

... ... ... 

"Back again, Kuroo-san? Welcome!"

Facial recognition software wasn't such a strange thing, Kuroo told himself. "Yeah. 25 tokens again please, Hinata-kun." 

"You remembered my name!" The program— he was just a program, right? —seemed genuinely delighted. "Coming up!" 

Kuroo settled in at a different game than last time— despite a strange desire to go looking for that 'Kenma' helper program again on the other that he purposefully resisted. But he was only a few minutes into the first level when his game paused itself. 

"What the...?" 

The graphics glitched for a heartbeat, and then a familiar little figure appeared on the screen. Kuroo nearly dropped the controller. 

"You're welcome." 

"Wh-What...?" There was no microphone on this headset. 

Kenma huffed, looking almost annoyed. "You said 'thank you' yesterday. Shouyou told me. So I'm saying 'you're welcome.'" 

"O-Oh..." Kuroo said, then laughed slightly. "Yeah. Right. But really, thanks." 

"I already said 'you're welcome.'" 

Kuroo found himself grinning— not just a smile, but a broad grin. "Your name is Kenma-san? Hinata-kun told me." 

"No '-san,'" the program replied huffily. "But yes. Kenma will do." There was a pause, and the digital boy looked away. "And... yours is...?" He sounded almost cross, as if to say, _You should have introduced yourself before calling_ me _by name._ The notion made Kuroo laugh. 

"Kuroo." 

"Kuroo-san." 

"Just Kuroo is fine."

... ... ... 

It was a very strange thing. Wherever Kuroo was, be it at school or at home or even at volleyball practice, he found his mind drifting to his bizarre digital acquaintance. And one question always seemed to dominate his mind:

When can I see you again? 

He told himself that he shouldn't be getting so attached to an artificial intelligence— because Kenma was, undoubtedly, intelligent, if artificial. They had long conversations— not just about video games, either. Kuroo had expected that to be the only thing the boy could speak about; he had been wrong. 

And not only was Kenma well-versed on many topics, but he was also curious and capable of learning. 

"Tell me more about the sport you play— volleyball." 

Kuroo told him about the Nekoma team with pride— although with the addendum that they weren't fairing too well lately, regarded more as fallen champions than anything else. 

"What's the matter?" Kenma asked, and Kuroo had laughed nervously. 

"We just can't... well, we can't seem to sync. We don't have a... a nucleus." 

"Shouldn't that be you, as captain?" The question wasn't unkind, just curious as Kenma stared at him with unblinking eyes. 

Kuroo shook his head. "Strategy isn't my strong suit." 

"It is mine." 

The volleyball player blinked. "I... I can tell," he said, "but you're not—" 

"Tape one of your practices for me," Kenma said, then looked away. It was just a few small pixels, but perhaps his cheeks were flushed a pretty pink. "I'll look at them." 

And so it was. Kuroo began to pitch Kenma's critiques to the Nekoma setter, and the team slowly began to come together. The coach asked many times where Kuroo was drawing the brilliant insights from, but each time he decided to come clean the captain chickened out. 

_How can I admit... that I've grown so attached to a video game AI...? How can I admit that I trust him with my own team's future...?_

But Kenma was consuming his thoughts more and more. Even more than before, he wanted Nekoma to succeed— for Kenma too, now. And more and more, he couldn't stop asking silently, _When can I see you again?_ Because, more and more, he couldn't seem to spend enough time at the strange arcade in the company of the AI called Kenma. 

"We've got a practice match today with our old rivals, Karasuno." He had snuck in a painfully quick visit to the arcade during lunch hour. 

Kenma tilted his head. "Do you think you'll win?" 

And Kuroo smiled a nervous, wry smile. "I hope so. I think so— because of you." 

It wasn't just a few pixels— Kenma blushed at the words, and hurriedly looked away. "I-I'm not... I'm just programmed... to offer my help." 

_Programmed..._ Even if he didn't argue, Kuroo couldn't shake the idea that it was far more than programming. And that made his heart swell. 

"Thanks, Kenma. For everything." 

He would barely have time to get back for class, and they both knew it. So Kuroo got up from the console, smiling and waving a farewell. Kenma nodded once, but called out abruptly when the other had already turned. 

"Kuroo!" 

The boy turned, his eyes widening slightly in astonishment. Kenma looked almost cross, his eyes flicking up and then back down at his feet. It could have been a glitch, but it looked like he was chewing his lip just slightly. 

"When... can I see you again?" 

And Kuroo, hearing the question that had been plaguing him spoken aloud by the very object of his desire, couldn't stop the wide, gentle smile that spread across his face. 

"I'll stop by after the game." 

"I'll hold you to that." Then Kenma hurried to say, "I-I want to know how my strategies work in a real game, you know!" 

And Kuroo nodded. "Right. I'll see you soon, then." 

"... Right. See you, Kuroo."


End file.
